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DEAR MOTHER,
I am writing to you from a cellar in 155th street.
It borders two places: one named Harlem and the other named Washington Heights, respectively. I arrived off the steamer from Liverpool to Ellis Island, scurried past the clerks and watchers, and hastily made my way from Jersey to Manhattan. I spent several days trying to find work and rent, settling for a winery housing four other migrants. I can say with utmost certainty that Dublin had less Irish than New York. Everywhere I went, all, or at least, most, looked like me. They were poor and ragged and running like pigeons to work for bread.
The streets here are not paved with gold, some are barely paved at all. At night they are overrun with rats as thick as dogs. The belching smoke from the chimnies chokes air and makes rainy days all the more suffocating.
Those ship brokers and emigration agents lied to me when they told me of "vast volumes of gold" and the "buildings made ivory." So did the letters from Maggy.
She was nowhere by the docks when I came, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since I took rent beneath a winery.
Please do not send Father or Uncle or yourself here, not before I have found work with a decent wage. A Pole I room with said a nearby factory work favored Irishmen over Germans and Italians. I will head there by the morning.
Greet everyone at home for me. Tell them that Maggy is safe with me, for the time being.
-P. O'Sullivan
DEAR MOTHER,
I worry for Maggy.
The letter she sent a year ago made no sense. Exaggerations were never beneath her, she always tended to have an eye for whimsy, but towers that went into the sky? Stars that shined brighter in the night? Land of honey? Whatever she described, it was not New York.
I remember when we were young, we would read the posters and poems and newspapers from Father's small printshop. She was always frail and softspoken. Short fiction and poetry were where she found her true voice — bereft of her stutters, her timidity, her nervous ticks, and her ennui. Her thoughts were so-often filled with tales of worlds that were seas away from Dublin, rich with all manner of exotic feasts and people and culture.
When she came down with an outbreak of typhus, it made her write more feverishly, often working away by candlelight in the early morning. By the grace of God, she recovered and had penned a series of stories that grew increasingly incoherent from page-to-page — an anthology of hectic stars. I remember when you and Father could not make heads or tails of it and recommended she take a nursing job, instead of becoming a writer.
Afterward, I do not know why she took the steamer first to America. Perhaps, she saw Lady Liberty on a postcard and her mind went West. I miss her.
Yesterday on my way to work at the factory, I walked past a very young pale thing that looked exactly like her. The small girl had feathers in her hair and smelled far too clean for the city. She went into an alleyway, knocked thrice on a handleless door, and was allowed in by someone behind it. I noticed men flocked there by night — others women, no more than fifteen and no less than eight, go in as well from time to time, and they often come out bruised or limping.
It appears that the degradations of man do not fear our Lord here. It appears that the Lord is blind to the alleyways.
Maggy has no place here; I pray for her safety.
Greet everyone at home for me. Tell them Maggy has found work as a nurse.
-P. O'Sullivan
DEAR MOTHER,
The summer swelters here.
I regret to inform you, I, your son Patrick O'Sullivan, lacks the funds to purchase tickets for all of you. I regret to inform you that he has had little time to pursue the whereabouts of your daughter, his sister, Maggy. It is a man's duty to provide, and it is this duty he feels he has failed in.
I have worked long and hard for meager wages. The foreman keeps us busy from dawn to dusk with little more than two dollars per wrought iron sheet. The large Bessemer converters that help process raw ore often cause accidents amongst the unfocused laborers. I wish that you nor Father would have to see a man's arm melt from a mishandled leakage. It is enough to make a man believe in the murmurs of anarchists and the whispers of communists, both of whom demand unionization.
At work, I always take the machines by the windowsill. It is affixed with black-iron bars on the exterior, and further obfuscated by a red-bricked wall. Between the crevices of two buildings, I see the alleyway — the one I had mentioned previously — as if the Lord confronts me, and the Devil goads me. I can view them as they come out; faceless and blurry, obfuscated further by the old window.
They wear streetworker's outfits. I shall not speak on the details of such, but some possess these queer feathered-wings strapped to their backs. Maybe it is the heat or the sweat from my brow. Perhaps, I am seeing things, but some seem to drift ever so steadily across the concrete floor.
All appear like Maggy.
Perhaps, this is divine providence, a sign, or these images are simply fueled by my regret and frustrations. By tomorrow, I will visit that place and knock three times on the door.
Greet everyone at home for me. I will find Maggy.
-P. O'Sullivan
THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE
VOL XIV - 5,555th | NEW YORK, MONDAY, MAY 17TH, 1915 | PRICE FOUR CENTS |
HORROR IN HARLEM: EIGHT CONFIRMED CADAVERS, NINTH NEVER FOUND!
SATANISM IN MANHATTAN, RALLY-CRY FOR CATHOLIC & PROTESTANT NEIGHBORHOODS
By Jeffry Zeppeli
Law enforcement would go on to inspect a door near the disposable which contained the hideously mangled cadaver. They found a place only Hell knows. Drugs, organs, and alcohol sat on the dining and pool tables. As the brave men-in-blue ventured down an open cellar, they found eight rotting cadavers. Only God knows what Devilish rituals were visited upon these virgin victims…
Luca,
What the hell is this?
-Castelli
Castelli,
What, are you gonna blame me for every random fuckin' Mick nosing about?
Christ, no one was supposed to see us—we didn't hand out permission sigils that day, capiche?
-Luca
Luca,
Your problem became the whole Five Point Gang's problem.
-Castelli
Castelli,
Capo Marina's going to come down hard on anyone associated with the Lockhouse, ya hear?
Last I checked, your boys imported the liquor and guns here. And your boys fooled around with the girls when they were being processed into Empyreans. Think Marina might want to know about how you and your boys might've caused those abnormalities while those things were incubating?
This thing of ours— my family's in this now. I got no desire to end what we got going. We should work to cover our tracks together, alright?
-Luca
Luca you garbage-motherfucker,
Our tracks? No, friend. That implies I'm implicated with you.
Try to tell your boys that when they ice-pick someone, they shouldn't leave'em in the fucking garbage bin. Because you think, like a dumbass, that leaving bodies in A PUBLIC GARBAGE BIN isn't going to attract attention. You didn't think some homeless guy would go rummaging for food? At least have the decency to give the man a burial at sea — one quick toss over the Hudson Bridge and problem solved.
Christsakes.
-Castelli
Castelli,
It was an honest mistake. Besides, my boys and I got Marina's main squeeze out by using her and the girls. Magdelena wasn't it? She doesn't talk much but my God, those wings were huge. Helped us fly out of Lockhouse when we saw a convoy of police cars driving down the road.
She's my only bargaining chip, Castelli. You have to be on my side on this.
-Luca
Luca,
Our brothers went through hell and back to get this far into Manhattan.
Now? Because you can't run your business properly, and you can't tell your boys to hide dead Micks in dead-Mick-storage, we're fucked.
It's a full-scale investigation they got on us, Luca. And they're not policemen; they're real Washington types. Black suit spooks. They know star-speak and they know what our symbols do.
My boys can't even get the product out of the Lockhouse now that its under surveillance.
Investigating our flesh liaisons; our business ledgers; our boys in prison; our corpus ad Astra; our transactions with the Spirit and Irrealta; our fuckin' families. All because of you Luca.
-Castelli
Castelli,
Cut me some slack!
I'll cut you in on some hermeticists from the Lower East Side that I found. Real east European magic. What did he call magical items and people again… like stars on a map? Well, Marina's going to love incorporating golems and Kabbalahic tomes into his cartography.
Best of all, they're a family of five, Castelli. Marina loves offerings that come in five.
-Luca
Luca,
Sorry. That isn't how this works.
-Castelli
Castelli,
Do you think we went unnoticed by the other gangs? New York's a big place, Castelli. And magic's a tool and a weapon anyone can get behind.
See you in hell.
-Luca
Electronic copy below as per Federal Records Act
UIU File 1925-021: Land of Honey
Summary: An anomalous individual that was known as a capo from the Five Points Gang and directly responsible for the disappearance of 2,012 adolescent and adult female immigrants. Often, these immigrants were housed in secret warehouses known as "honeypots."
The suspect had an extensive background in esotericism and parlayed frequently with various contacts belonging to crime organizations such as the Chicago Spirit, Beati Paoli, and Irrealta.
Name: Leo "Stella Marina" Lombardi or Marina
Irregularity Cross-reference: Human, Gangster, Five Points Gang, Fugitive
Physical Description:
Sex | Height | Weight/Build | Race | Hair | Eyes | Identifying Attributes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male | 70 in | Slender | Caucasian | Black | Brown/Star-shaped Pupils | Cordial disposition/smile |
Capabilities: Suspect is capable of distributing low-level reality alteration capabilities to subordinates. The suspect's eidetic understanding of global esotericism allowed it to detect individuals with latent anomalies from tenants within New York City. As such, this knowledge allowed the suspect to establish a hidden crime network around various boroughs, which procured the services of immigrants via coercion, blackmail, and threats of physical violence.
The suspect has been responsible for the transfiguration of many female subordinates under its employ, which it referred to as "Patrons."
An individual Patron had their facial dermis and tissue cleaved off; the exposed flesh was covered with an ivory-bronze mask. Ortothan iconography, in lines of five, were etched into dotted ridges and convex patterns behind the mask — optic nerves were wrapped around bronze nails which pierced the eyesockets and tightened the object painfully into the Patron's cranium. An individual Patron possessed angular, plastic wings grafted unto their shoulder bones — this correlated with their ability to levitate.
Purpose/Motive: Based on interviews, the suspect desired to manufacture a thaumaturgic leyline in Manhattan. Based on cartography maps found from the suspect's residence, the alignments were derived from sigils implemented on streets, lampposts, people, Churches, and various undisclosed places — each with the number "5." The most prominent location was the Five Points in Lower Manhattan.
Modus Operandi: Suspect desired to become a demiurge by taking over the underground anomalies market and establishing a unified faith from various religions. Notably, those in its inner-circle were learned, anomalous individuals — the majority went on to form the "The First Fifth Church of Manhattan" in 1915. Other members included several Ortothan archivists who were persuaded by the suspect to join it after arriving on Ellis Island by way of a steamship. The suspect believed that long-term syncretism would develop a new, more potent religion, primarily focused on ascension.
The suspect used the humanoid by the named "Magdelena" as the focal point for the leyline's energies. According to the suspect, many Patrons would act as aetheric conduits for the "Grand Manhattan Apothesis" and that Magdelena was their "ringleader."
Behavior: The suspect has remained compliant to all UIU inquiries with the exception of revealing names, identities, and operations of individuals it had business transactions in the past. Despite over 621 assassination attempts made on its life by hostile associates, the suspect remains optimistic and undeterred.
NOTE: The following is a compilation of related cases/contracts directly related to the suspect's modus operandi, insofar as each case contributed to the design of Patrons and the entity known as Magdelena. 55 unverified cases have been omitted.
A │06/01/1901: The Chin family (a rival triad group) were found without epidermal layers of skin and tissue inside a thick coating of bronze, nickel, and iron. Given they had appeared near a busy street with a small tarp below them and a cup beside them, witnesses mistook them as street performers.
The only surviving member, Joseph Chin (age 12) was coerced into Marina's employment.
CONTRACT TITLE: WRIT OF STREGHE
STIPULATIONS: THE SOLE SURVIVOR IS GRANTED THE ABILITY TO ALTER METALLURGY AT WILL. THE SOLE SURVIVOR IS TO DEVELOP MASKS AS DEPICTED IN THE TAOIST MANUSCRIPT, "FIVE-STARS-FIVE-FACES" FOR MR. MARINA UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH.
B │06/01/1907: The bodies of Arnold and Sofia Kristóf, recently inducted Fifthists, were discovered in a ravine located in Central Park. Each had crude pentagrams etched into their faces. Lacerations and cut-marks matched the edge of a blunt bowie knife.
Their two daughters (age 11 and 14 respectively) were coerced into Marina's employment.
CONTRACT TITLE: WRIT OF BENEDICARIA
STIPULATIONS: THE TWO SURVIVORS ARE GRANTED THE ABILITIES OF LEVITATION AND INVISIBILITY. THEY ARE TO SCOUT POTENTIAL MAGIC USERS FOR MR. MARINA. NO PENALTY REQUIRED.
C │02/23/1908: Peter Smith (age 21), an Indian anthropologist who had studied in the University of Sheffield, Liverpool, Britain (paid for in full by the suspect) was taken into UIU custody. Mr. Smith had been renamed from its original name "Asha Punja" in 1901 and had served as a personal Ortothan translator for the suspect after graduation — this was due to Mr. Smith's family following a Hindi delineation of the Second Hytoth.
When questioned, Mr. Smith stated that the suspect was akin to a patriarchal father figure; a scholar which embodied Rakmou-leusan's ideals. Mr. Smith refused to answer further questions. No contracts were found.
D │07/16/1911: A costume/textile maker fell from a 10-story apartment after it contacted UIU agents. It had been recovered in a vegetative state without identifying facial features, genitalia, fingers, teeth, or limbs.
CONTRACT TITLE: WRIT OF STREGHE
STIPULATIONS: THE DEADMAN WAS TO REMAIN SILENT AND WAS GRANTED THE ABILITY TO LEVITATE. SINCE THE DEADMAN HAS NOT REMAINED SILENT, MR. MARINA RESERVES RIGHTS TO HIS IDENTITY IN THE AFTERLIFE.
E │05/05/1915: 55 former members of the First Fifth Church of Manhattan were found in an unmarked ditch, 5m below ground level. Forensics believe that they had been burned alive, as indicated by the placement of their bodies. A diary excerpt was found in a congruent's coat pocket:
[…] can you see the stars falling, can you see the stars falling, can you see the stars falling, can you see the stars falling, can you […]
A black trail. A white chapel.
Candles have lit oceans. Wildfires are soft as air. Our bodies will be breathed! We are wet and all and God.
The patriarch wears a white-suit-smile; his eyes are wet from stars and lines. The matriarch sings of heaven and hell; once devoured, a defecated God will hatch.
Mother, Father.
Mother, Father.
Mother.
F │05/17/1915: The cadavers of 8 women missing various organs and limbs were found by law enforcement inside of a location known as the Lockhouse.
The 9th woman, depicted in a newspaper photo by onsite reporters, remained unfound and is a suspected Patron made by the suspect.
CONTRACT TITLE: WRIT OF STREGHE
STIPULATIONS: THE NINE MAIDENS ARE GRANTED THE ABILITIES OF PSYCHOTRONIC AND METAPHYSICAL MANIPULATION. THEY ARE TO REMAIN UNSEEN IN THE BODY OF THE NINTH. THE NINTH IS TO BE MR. MARINA'S ESCORT, BODYGUARD, AND SECRETARY.
Current Status: Detained. Deceased.
Crimes: The suspect is charged with blackmail, torture, extortion, terrorism, racketeering, illicit anomalies, multiple accounts of second and first-degree murder, and criminal possession of anomalous individuals.
Sentencing: Indefinite Detainment
History of UIU Action: On July 4, 1914, an assassination attempt by a rival mafioso had destroyed the suspect's place of worship. The suspect then sought protection under UIU jurisdiction.
TRANSCRIPT OF INITIAL INTERVIEW WAS PERFORMED BY AGENT POULSEN.
Agent Poulsen: Greetings Mr. Lombardi.
Stella Marina: Marina. That's what my friends call me.
P: Alright, Marina. I am Agent Poulsen. Let's get to brass-tax shall we? Tell me what happened in Lexington.
M: [ shrugs and smiles ] Why, don't you know? They were all over the news. Group of anarchists who mishandled a few pipes of dynamite. Surprised you didn't know.
P: Bullshit. Better start giving names, Marina.
M: Relax, alright? It was probably some disgruntled enforcer, dealer— De Luca, maybe? At least, I think I gave one of the Lucas pyrokinesis.
P: You burn a lot of people, Marina? We have a stack of prime-suspects; all with grudges and guns aimed solely at you.
M: Price of fame. Why I chose this ritzy resort destination anyways. [ opens arms wide and smiles. ]
[ Poulsen begins to speak, but Marina interjects. ]
M: Whomever it was, I assure you; they won't die fast. Those Fifthist's? Got a thing for prolonging pain.
P: And the women? How do they factor in on all this?
[ Marina leans back. He takes a lighter from his coat pocket, lights it, and bites on its head. ]
M: Ah, the dames. Couldn't make headway on my deals and transactions without'em. They always know where to look whenever I need to find someone or something. They always know where dangers coming.
P: Yeah, well the burnt corpses our boys dragged outta the rubble say different.
M: [ separates cigar from lips, exhales ] You mean those rats? Mags practically did me a fuckin' favor. Told me to stay put. Thank God for the shitters in that place were all broken— wouldn't have had an excuse to go outside otherwise.
P: Her? [ produces a photo from a yellow envelope ]
{ Marina snatches the photo hastily and begins caressing it with his forefinger. ]
M: Mags. A Queen among whores.
P: What? Regicide's a romantic gesture to you loons at the Five Points?
M: Manner-of-speaking, yes. Can't expect you passionless fucks to know what love is. She— she wanted to go home. Told me she saw her family every time she closed her — well took'em out with a melon baller — but the sensations never went away. She pictured her small home. Pictured all the papers and poems I couldn't give her.
P: Recent photos seem like you left a lot of the same call-signs as you did with other women. [ throws out five photos from the envelope ]
M: Not the same. { left-hand waves dismissively ] She could've been the Queen of this land; along with me, her King. We'd rule this land of rats and pigeons and snakes. Our skyscrapers would scratch the clouds. Our numbers would be heralded by men of faith. Our children would inherit the world, but.
[ Marina takes a long drag from his cigar and exhales. ]
M: She wanted to go home.END LOG
11/20/1925: Security guards and operatives stationed in the Specialized Queens Detention Facility experienced a widespread cognitohazardous outbreak and all detainment cells in the facility were unlocked. Ancillary UIU agents responded to the outbreak and found the suspect dead in its cell. The cadaver was found bisected: the mutilation started from the genitals/anus up to the forehead. The pelvic bone and genitalia were missing — lacerations matched patterns found on human teeth. Marks from the heels of the suspect's loafers were found on the ceiling and walls.
11/20/1926: Immigrants had spotted a large avian entity perched atop the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island with a secondary humanoid silhouette clutched in its claws. Reports indicated it then flew upwards, turned, and dove into the ocean.
dear mother
may this letter reach you from this Land of Honey,
may good fortune and health forever bless you and father,
may the wind comfort your bones,
may the seas always whisper our names,
may you always remember our faces,
in rain or shine.
may God bless us eternally.
i found her.
Thanks to UraniumEmpire and Uncle Nicolini for great feedback on this piece.
photo-of-women
Charles Ponzi or Marina
https://www.prepressure.com/printing/history/1900-1949
https://www.jaha.org/edu/discovery_center/push-pull/letterstohome.html
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~dalbino/letters/misc1900now.html
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/36/
https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/oral-history-library